Ticketmaster and Festival X, Australia’s newest music event which featured some of the world’s best artists in pop, hip hop and electronic, has celebrated a milestone in Australia by delivering a 100% digitally ticketed festival to 100,000 fans.

Since officially launching in February this year, Ticketmaster’s digital ticketing revolution, where tickets are delivered straight to fans’ mobile devices, has seen enormous success with industry and fans welcoming and embracing the technology. In addition to creating a much more personalised experience for the fan, digital ticketing also paves the way for increased security, decreased fraud and unlocked value from customer relationships by knowing all the fans in the building, not just the buyer.

“Ticketmaster’s digital ticketing solution gives fans an easy way to manage their tickets right from their mobile. The 100,000 fans that attended Festival X really embraced and welcomed such a convenient and user-friendly platform and we look forward to using it across more tours and festivals in 2020,” said Richie McNeill, Director of Hardware Presents (co-promoter of Festival X alongside Live Nation and Onelove).

The first event to launch with the technology in the region was theatre production Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre, followed closely by iconic music venues Forum Melbourne and Palais Theatre (also in Melbourne). Digital tickets were also implemented on huge national sold-out stadium tours across Australia and New Zealand in recent months including on all General Admission tickets for U2’s The Joshua Tree tour in Auckland, Melbourne and Perth.

Ticketmaster Australia and New Zealand Managing Director, Maria O’Connor said: “Digital tickets are the future and this year we have seen the power and convenience of digital tickets and how they can make both fans and clients lives easier. Not only are they the easiest and most convenient way to receive and use a ticket but they are proven to decrease instances of fraud as we saw with Festival X and are a fail-safe way to ensure all fans get into the show.”

The next generation of digital tickets will be rolled out at the Australian Open in January 2020 viaTicketmaster’s Presence platform. Presence is Ticketmaster’s next-generation venue access control and fan engagement platform that replaces paper tickets with digital passes. The new system operates on a near-field communication, or NFC, platform.

That means instead of scanning a barcode, fans will tap their device against a reader at the gate, similar to mobile pay and mobile keycards at hotels. The same system is in use at all NFL stadiums and in most NBA and NHL arenas in the United States. Ticketmaster’s Presence streamlines live event venue operations, provides real-time insights and analytics to venues further enhancing security, protecting against fraud, and allowing for a personalised fan experience.